Through my observations, I have found that the Bohemians, especially in Nassau, are excellent salesmen and women. Everything from dining and merchandise to excursions and activities on the beach, these folks know how to intice you to buy their products and services.

Sales Tactics Learned from B2C Transactions in the Bahamas

• Pay now, services rendered later-When arriving to Freeport on the third day, we found that many of the taxi’s had the same scheme in terms of collecting payments for their services. The way it was pitched to me,”I will take you and your party into the city, 11 miles away. It will be $5 dollars for each person, $10 round trip. You pay $10 up front now, I will pick you up whenever/wherever you want.” I didn’t fall for this, but knew a few folks that bought in ahead of time, and were left with no ride. I think people would feel more comfortable paying a fraction of the full cost upfront (if this was presented correctly) and have better reassurance of getting a ride.

• Compliment the customers- While walking on the beach, Bohemian ladies combed the area looking for potential customers for their hair braiding business. And like true Dale Carnegie’s,  They would walk up to women, throwing out comments such as, ” My, you have the best hair for braiding” and “Hello beautiful-how about some pretty braids to brighten your day?” Being observant during the pitch, is greatly important for any salesmen or women.

• Thin slice and categorize- When we first approached the beach off of paradise island, we heard, “Sir, Jet-ski ride today? We have a great special for couples-going on ONLY today.” I heard this same call out, later on in the day but it was changed and directed towards women. I doubt they had a unique special for my case, but it did make me think for a moment that it was sale item for me and my situation.

• Use Storytelling & Humor- We took a ferry over to paradise island from Nassau. While on the boat we were greeted by our guide- a clever and funny guy. He told us stories about Nicholas Cage’s estate on the island, How to smuggle booze back on to the cruse ship, and Michael Jackson’s suite in the Atlantis hotel. Needless to say, I was more inclined to tip him when the ride was over.

*While these tactics were definitely used in the bahamas, there are not to say- classical methodologies of selling (and I would not reccomend all of these to your business). I would suggest using your best judgment when deciding to apply these tactics.

Thanks for reading,
Taylor